off-season family vacation

I recently returned from an amazing vacation to the big island of Hawai’i. My family has been talking about visiting for years
and I am incredibly thankful we finally went.

We packed a lot of adventure into one week- snorkeling, hiking
through volcanic craters, and exploring beautiful tropical gardens. We sampled
coffee from a Kona coffee plantation, ate green papaya salad from farmers
markets and made ceviche with local fish and limes. Part of me wished that we’d
spent a couple of days lying on the beach, but there was too much we wanted to
experience.

The island was awesome in the true sense of the word. For a
girl growing up in northern climates, I was amazed by everything: the outdoor
shower, the fact that the houses didn’t need glass panes on their windows,
just screens. It was odd, and wonderful, to swim in the ocean without getting
cold, and with fishes I think of as belonging in an aquarium.

We visited orchards filled with avocado, mango, papaya and
lychee trees, and made guacamole from avocados that had fallen to the ground. At
6a sharp a chorus of bird calls would wake us, and we’d spend lazy
afternoons observing the habits of our “pet” lizards that roamed our abode freely, keeping the bug populations at bay. One of my favorite experiences
was visiting Volcano National Park and traveling to the end of a road that
was permanently closed due to lava flow.

I have so much love for the island after spending just a
week exploring. It might not be long before I try to figure out a way to live there...